The present disclosure relates generally to food waste disposers.
Food waste disposers are used to comminute food scraps into particles small enough to safely pass through household drain plumbing. A conventional disposer includes a food conveying section, a motor section, and a grinding mechanism disposed between the food conveying section and the motor section. The food conveying section includes a housing that forms an inlet for receiving food waste and water. The food conveying section conveys the food waste to the grinding mechanism, and the motor section includes a motor imparting rotational movement to a motor shaft to operate the grinding mechanism.
The grind mechanism that accomplishes the comminution is typically composed of a rotating shredder plate with lugs and a stationary grind ring. The motor turns the rotating shredder plate and the lugs force the food waste against the grind ring where it is broken down into small pieces. Once the particles are small enough to pass out of the grinding mechanism, they are flushed out into the household plumbing.
FIG. 1 illustrates portions of a typical grinding mechanism 10. The illustrated grinding mechanism 10 includes a rotating shredder plate 12 with swivel lugs 14 and a stationary grind ring 16. The grinding plate 12 is mounted to the motor shaft 18. The grind ring 16, which includes a plurality of notches 20 defining spaced teeth 21, is fixedly attached to an inner surface of a housing 22.
In the operation of the food waste disposer, the food waste delivered by the food conveying section to the grinding mechanism 10 is forced by the swivel lugs 14 against the teeth 21 of the grind ring 16. The edges of the teeth 21 grind the food waste into particulate matter sufficiently small to pass from above the grinding plate 12 to below the grinding plate 12 via gaps between the rotating and stationary members. Due to gravity, the particulate matter that passes through the gaps between the teeth 21 drops onto the upper end frame 24 and, along with water injected into the disposer, is discharged through a discharge outlet 26.
During the grinding process, waste particles can adhere to the surfaces of the grind mechanism components and to the interior of the grind section housing. In a typical kitchen application, the faucet is opened so that water runs into the disposer inlet to rinse and carry food waste through the grind mechanism during the grinding of food waste. Inadequate rinsing, however, can cause food build up and odor to occur. This can result in odors and even reduced grind performance if water passages in the disposer are plugged.
The present application addresses shortcomings associated with the prior art.